Candace (Candy) Costie, (born March 12, 1963) known by her married name Candace Costie Merrill since 1995, is an American former

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming), also known as artistic swimming, is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World A ...

competitor who competed for the University of Arizona, and was a 1984 Los Angeles Olympic gold medal winner in the solo event. She later worked as a broadcaster for sporting events, and in real estate development for her husband's Merrill Company.

Early life and competition

Candace Costie was born on March 12, 1963 in Seattle, Washington where she spent her early life. Her mother was a diver and frequent swimmer, and Costie began swimming at nearby Green Lake, then around eight or nine started training with the

Washington Athletic Club The Washington Athletic Club, founded in 1930, is a private social and athletic club located in downtown Seattle. The 21-story WAC clubhouse opened in December 1930, and was designed in the Art Deco style by Seattle architect Sherwood D. Ford. ...

in downtown Seattle, which had offered synchronized swimming. Though initially trained as a competitive swimmer, she soon switched to synchronized swimming as she enjoyed the music, creativity, and rhythmic movements.

Seattle Aqua Club

Around 1973-4, Costie's coaches Gail Brennan and Diann Smith moved from the Washington Athletic Club where they were Costie's first synchronized swimming instructors, to the Seattle Aqua Club where Tracy Ruiz was already being coached by Seattle Aqua Club's Head Coach Charlotte Davis. Costie began training with Hall of Fame Coach Charlotte Davis, a former 1970 National Team Champion, who paired her with a young

Tracie Ruiz Tracie Lehuanani Ruiz (born February 4, 1963) also known after 1985 by her married name Tracie Lehuanani Ruiz-Conforto is a former American competitive synchronized swimmer for the University of Arizona who won a total of three Olympic medals wi ...

. Showing early promise, Costie won a gold medal at the Junior Olympic Championship in 1977 and both an individual and duet title at the U.S. Junior Championships in 1979 around the age of sixteen. Costie and Ruiz had similar builds and weights, 5' 4" heights, deep tans, similar toothy smiles, were the same age and had comparable swimming skills. The combination of traits made them a suitable match for a duet team. By 1982, when the International Olympic Committee announced they would include the duet event in the upcoming 1984 Olympic Games, Coach Davis, Ruiz, and Costie set a goal to focus their training on an Olympic berth and medal. In 1984, Davis temporarily stopped coaching at the Seattle Aqua Club to train Ruiz and Costie full time for the Olympics.Moore, David Leon, "Pals, Ruiz, Costie, Have Brought Synchronized Swimming Long Ways", ''The Olympian'', Olympia, Washington, July 29, 1984, pg. 27 An important player in the growth of synchronized swimming, Davis was instrumental in the formation of the U.S. Synchronized Swimming Inc. program beginning when the corporation was formed in 1979, and would serve as the Head Coach for the US Synchronized Swimming team at the 1984 Olympics. Costie's training consisted of a regular swim workout with intervals and distance but included routine choreography and rehearsal, figures practice, weight training, running, and dance. In the four years of intensive training before the Games, she trained with Ruiz an average of 8-10 hours a day.

University of Arizona

Costie and Ruiz competed in synchronized swimming for the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

team. Costie and Ruiz won the duet event at the 1982 National Collegiate Championships and Costie received the honor of being named an All American. A powerful program, the Arizona team competed in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Championships in 1981 and 1984. The Arizona team was coached by Kathy Kretschmer, who had formerly competed for the U.S. Junior and Senior National Teams and won a gold medal at the 1971 Pan American Games.

International competition

Costie claimed a silver medal in the women's duet at the

1982 World Aquatics Championships The 4th FINA World Aquatics Championships took place from July 29-August 8, 1982, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. They featured 848 athletes, competing in four Aquatics disciplines: *Diving - 4 events (2 male, 2 female); *Swimming - 29 events (15 male, 1 ...

with

Ruiz The Spanish surname Ruiz is a patronymic from the personal name Ruy, a short form of Rodrigo, meaning "son of Roderick". Roderick's roots can be traced back to the Visigoths, the Germanic tribe which ruled in the Iberian Peninsula between the 5th an ...

on August 1, 1982 in Guayaquil, Equador. She also won a silver medal with the American team at the 1982 World's in Guayaquil on August 5, 1982, finishing a close second to the Canadian team. In their ten year partnership, Costie and Ruiz, only finished lower than first place twice, with one instance being at the 1982 World Aquatics Championships, as noted above, and at the 1980 U.S. National championships. The pair also won a gold medal on August 19, 1983 in the women's duet at the

1983 Pan American Games The 1983 Pan American Games, officially known as the IX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Caracas 1983, were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to inclu ...

in Caracas, Venezuela."Ruiz, Costie Win Gold", ''Arizona Daily Star'', Tucson, Arizona, August 20, 1983, pg. 51"Synchronized Gold, Pan America", ''Record Searchlight'', Redding, California, August 20, 1983, pg. 17

1984 Los Angeles Olympics

In a career highlight, Candy and her partner Tracy Ruiz won a gold medal at the women's duet event at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles. Ruiz and Costie won a close competition against the Canadian duet team of Sharon Hambrook and Kelly Krycka, who placed second and took the silver medal. The 1984 team, the first to compete in synchronized swimming, was trained and directed by Head Coach Charlotte Davis, with Hall of Fame Coach

Gail Emery Gail Emery is an American former synchronized swimmer and a Hall of Fame synchronized swimming coach for both age-group and collegiate programs. In an unprecedented achievement, Emery coached her primary team, the Walnut Creek Aquanuts to 10 con ...

as the team manager. The pair's gold medal and the American teams' success focused the American press on the sport and led the public to take greater interest in the new sport."Synchronized Swimming, 1984 Olympics", ''The Olympian'', Olympia, Washington, July 12, 1984, pg. 35 Costie and Ruiz's partnership extended to winning four US national championships. They won an NCAA national championship while competing for the University of Arizona.

Marriages

She met U.S. Water Polo Olympian Doug Burke at the 1982 World Games and the couple married after the Los Angeles Olympics on August 25, 1984 in Modesto, California."Burke, Costie, Plan Olympic Marriage", ''The Modesto Bee'', Modesto, California, June 14, 1984, pg. 50 Burke was part of the 1980 Moscow U.S. Olympic Water Polo team which was not attended by the U.S., and later earned a silver medal in water polo in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.Thomas, Pete, "Olympic Newlyweds", ''Los Angeles Times'', Los Angeles, California, May 22, 1985, pg. 37 After her eight year marriage to Doug Burke ended, Candy moved to Arizona around 1992 and married real estate developer Fred Merrill Jr. in February 1995. At the time, she had two children and two step children.Water Ballet Star Learns New Strokes", ''The Arizona Republic'', September 18, 1994, Phoenix, Arizona, pg. 277

Post-competition careers

After the Olympics, beginning in the mid-80's, Costie and Ruiz performed for several years in professional water shows as a synchronized duet, appearing at a number of venues and locations including Marineland, and in Las Vegas, and Hawaii. In 1984, Candy made a work-out video, marketed as a video cassette, known as "The Water Workout" which increased interest in the sport of synchronized swimming. In the 1980s, Candy Merrill worked as a commentator for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

and

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

television networks for national and international sporting events. During the

1988 Olympics 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 () ...

Seoul, Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Merrill was an NBC analyst focusing on live coverage of the Synchronized Swimming events. Costie also worked for Fortune 500 Companies including

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

and

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

providing public speaking engagements during this period. As an athlete and celebrity, she did some product endorsements, and gained experience in marketing products. Candy worked as an artist and painter in oil and ink at her Scottsdale, Arizona studio, the Desert Fish, which she started in the early 1990s. Costie Merrill later joined Merrill Companies, based in Overland Park, Kansas, the family commercial real estate development firm, in 2000. As a principal, Merrill directed all

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

and

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

efforts for the firm and was instrumental in the development of office, retail and community engagement projects, including Prairiefire and the Museum at Prairiefire. The Prairiefire Museum, a history museum with collected works from a variety of museums, opened in 2014, and had a beautiful architectural style which likely appealed to Costie-Merrill's strong interest in art. In an effort to expand and nurture the culture of the education-focused community in the greater Kansas City metro area, Fred and Candy Merrill formed the Museum of Prairiefire Foundation in 2008 through a partnership with the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

in New York. In 2023 Fred and Candy Merrill, formed Kikabou: a music and nature-focused educational production company.

Awards

Merrill received the first

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in her sport from the

for the women's duet in

. In 1985, she was a recipient of the Olympia Award, presented by the Southland Corporation to recognize exceptional achievement in the sports of the Summer and Winter Olympic games.Everly, Alan, "Synchronized Swimming Champion Finally Getting Individual Recognition," ''The Argonaut'', Marina Del Ray, California, March 21, 1985, pg. 20 Costie was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

in 1995.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Costie, Candy 1963 births Living people American synchronized swimmers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Synchronized swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in synchronized swimming Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in synchronised swimming Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Synchronized swimmers at the 1983 Pan American Games Swimming commentators Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming